I notice several "locks" here in the Obama Group today --

[DeepModem Mom]

Due to heightened interest in DU rules, for a variety of reasons, I'm posting those related specifically to DU Groups:

* SPECIAL RULES FOR DU GROUPS

Donating members have the ability to post in special forums called "DU Groups." All of the DU Groups are in the same folder, and they are designated by a special icon. DU Groups are a special type of forum, organized by DU members, and dedicated to a particular mission. The mission statement of each DU Group is pinned to the top of that group's forum listing. Individuals who participate in a particular DU Group must do so within the limits set by that Group's mission statement. Those who fail to abide by the mission statement, or whose presence is disruptive to the other members of that Group, will be barred from posting in that Group.

Unfortunately, in the past some members have used the protected "echo-chamber" available in the DU Groups in ways that increased feelings of victimization among members of that Group, or increased hostility toward DU members who are not participants in that Group. This has been a particular problem in Groups devoted to specific Democratic candidates, and in Groups for believers or non-believers. Because of this misuse of the DU Groups, we have been forced to institute a few additional rules to keep discussions productive.

Do not use the DU Groups to whip up feelings of victimization or to complain about perceived mistreatment by the administrators, moderators, or members of Democratic Underground.

Do not use the DU Groups to discuss members of Democratic Underground who you do not like, or whom you believe to be disruptors.

Do not use the DU Groups to "rally the troops" to go participate in discussion threads elsewhere on our website, or to likewise encourage members to vote in polls or recommend threads or alert on posts.

Additional information about DU Groups is posted in the DU Groups folder.

* WHAT ARE DU GROUPS?

DU Groups are a special type of discussion forum. DU Groups are forum topics suggested by the DU Members themselves. DU Groups are different from regular forums in the following ways:

1. DU Groups are forum topics suggested by groups of DU Members. (To learn how to start your own DU Group, please read the topic called "How to suggest a DU Group.")

2. Each DU Group has a specific mission statement, which has been submitted to and approved by the administrators of Democratic Underground. Administrators reserve the right to withhold approval from any group idea suggested.

3. In order to post in a DU Group, a member must agree with that group's mission statement. Off-topic postings that violate the mission statement of a DU Group are not permitted. Members who disagree with the mission statement of a particular group may be blocked from posting in that group.

4. Only members with a DU Donor star next to their username may post messages in the DU Groups. Non-donors and non-registered lurkers are permitted to read DU Groups, but they are blocked from posting in them.

5. Currently, thread topics started in any of the DU Groups will not appear on the Latest Page. In the future, we may give members the option to show them on the Latest Page, provided that it does not put undue stress on our web server.

6. Please be aware that no members "own" or "run" any particular group, nor do members have the ability to decide who participates in any given group. The regular DU rules apply to postings in the DU Groups. If a DU Group becomes disruptive to the rest of the message board, the Administrators reserve the right to shut it down.

7. The Administrators will occasionally delete DU Groups that do not attract significant traffic or postings. If a particular DU Group is in danger of being deleted, the Administrators will post a warning in that Group at least 24 hours before it is removed.

We hope that these DU Groups will return some of that "small community feeling" that has been lost on DU during the last few years of rapid growth.

* HOW TO SUGGEST A DU GROUP

One of the best things about DU Groups is that members have the ability to suggest new groups to the Administrators of Democratic Underground. If you wish to suggest a group, please follow this procedure:

1. Start one discussion thread in the forum of your choice to tell people about your idea for a DU Group.

2. In that thread, you must get responses from at least ten DU members who agree to be active participants in the suggested DU Group. All ten members to respond must have donor stars.

3. In that thread, members must agree on a proposed mission statement for the DU Group.

4. When enough members have signed on to join the group and have agreed on a proposed mission statement, one member must officially suggest the DU Group to a DU Administrator (Skinner, EarlG, or Elad), by sending an email. Please be sure to include a link to the thread where members have discussed the proposed Group.

5. The Administrators will consider the request and make a decision. The Administrators will either 1) Accept the Group as it is proposed, 2) Deny the Group outright, or 3) Ask for changes to the Group or its mission statement which would be necessary for its approval.

6. Once the suggested Group has been accepted by the Administrators, the Administrators will create a new DU Group in the "DU Groups" Category forum, and pin the mission statement of that Group to the top of that Group's forum.

If you are considering a DU Group on a controversial topic, the Administrators would appreciate if you contacted us before collecting your ten members, so we may discuss any sensitive issues. This courtesy will increase the chance that your Group is approved. Also, please be aware that proposed Groups that are redundant with existing DU Forums are unlikely to be approved.

If you have any questions, please contact a forum Administrator.

Skinner
EarlG
Elad

Democratic Underground Administrators

[Cary]

1. I am all for following the rules

I again invite all posters here to my forum. By "mine" I mean it is part mine, but my partner is one of us. We do allow "conservatives" there and there is a minimal moderation philosophy.

I do not want it to be a DU bash forum, but we can discuss some things there that might not be appropriate here.

www.newsrake.org

[HughMoran]

2. Guilty as charged

I earlier warned about posting links to the main forums, then several threads doing just that were posted here. I got a false sense of security and did it myself. My bad - I won't be doing this any more.

[Cha]

7. Riight bc

the rules are adhered to so strongly in the other forums.

[DeepModem Mom]

8. I do want to make clear I posted just as FYI, and not in any way as punitive.

As I noted, there's increased interest in DU rules for a variety of reasons, and, I would assume, differing individual interpretations of their meaning in all areas of the board.

(I have my own.)

[Cha]

9. Oh I know, DMM~

I just couldn't help myself when I read Hugh's reply.

Thanks again for all your instigating of this forum and now we need a new Mission Statement and the current status for whom it was named..The BOG:)

[DeepModem Mom]

12. Yes, indeed! nt

[HughMoran]

16. That's another story

We'll see how that works out later. For now, I'll just do my best to work within the rules here and not worry about the rest.

[Cha]

18. Yes,

as I already said to someone else..if we're held to a higher standard then that can't be bad.

[Peacetrain]

3. Ah shoot... did not think that through.. I did put a link in my op.. mea culpa

I should have just done a descriptive narrative of the op and my response..

[HopeOverFear]

4. I agree with the rule that we shouldn't bring the outside world here.

I believe I've done it a couple times myself. Won't do it again.

[SeattleGirl]

5. Thanks for the reminder, DMM n/t

[Born_A_Truman]

6. Thanks for posting...

[NJmaverick]

10. Thanks for posting this

since it seems this board has come under close scrutiny it's probably good for everyone to know the rules.


Still it doesn't stop us from keeping each other informed of useful information or just providing each other with some emotional support. With this group I often think of this line from the DU rules:

please keep in mind that most of our members come to this website in order to get a break from the constant attacks in the media against our candidates and our values.



PS- I think that the moderators are getting a bit more aggressive in other boards. I have seen very nasty and divisive threads be locked or vanished and the racist poster which was the topic of the one thread here is no longer a member of DU.

[DeepModem Mom]

11. As I was looking back at the Rules for this post, that line popped out at me, too. nt

[Cha]

14. Yeah, and since that didn't work out..we got our own BOG.

"please keep in mind that most of our members come to this website in order to get a break from the constant attacks in the media against our candidates and our values."

[NYC Liberal]

13. Thanks for this, I think we should stay focused on talking about Obama

and less so about the anti-Obama crap in GD and GD:P - not that I haven't done it myself in the past, of course. But I realize doing so is pushing the rules so it's probably best if we just ignore the bullshit as best as possible and keep this a (fairly) positive place :)

[Cha]

15. Yeah, ' cause we have to

be held to a higher standard and that can't be bad:7

[NYC Liberal]

17. Hehe, no it can't! I think a lot of it is

just the fact that the group is so new (well, in terms of being active during Obama's presidency) that people are just venting because they haven't had a chance to anywhere else! Naturally when people find this place they want to let it all out :D

[Cha]

20. Excellent point.

Venting in the BOG forum..that was short and sweet!B-)

[NYC Liberal]

21. Yes, emphasis on the "sweet"

:7

BTW, go check out the new mission statement I came up with and let me know what you think! (http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=388&topic_id=8985&mesg_id=9364) I'm gonna PM Skinner with it once people are ok with it and then we can make sure that our group stays the oasis that it is! :)

[Cha]

22. Thank you, NYC Liberal~

I think it's all encompassing and it's important that we state what we don't want here as well.

Yay, we're on our Way!B-)

[HughMoran]

28. Exactly

That's why I and others who are also fairly new would rain on anybody's parade. I think we know now where we're at.

[dcsmart]

23. isn't talking about obama also discussing the anti-obama

rhetoric and faulty arguments presented by other people, not necessarily DUers, but criticism in general?

[NYC Liberal]

25. Yeah definitely

I was just saying that now that there are more and more members joining us over here, there'll be more scrutiny as well.

We should definitely discuss anti-Obama stuff that flies around! Just gotta be careful with "callouts" and such for DUers now, I think.

[dcsmart]

26. ok...i understand..thanks.

[lamp_shade]

19. OKay.

[dcsmart]

24. i do not understand this post. Can you provide

some of examples of problems in the BO group that violates these rules.

[NJmaverick]

27. Just looked for the locked threads and read what the moderators wrote

[DeepModem Mom]

29. The post is in no way punitive or a warning of any kind. I love you guys!

Since the mods had locked several posts, I thought I would post the rules for DU Groups. I sponsored and organized this Group originally, so I was somewhat familiar with them.

I think we all have our own differing ideas about how the rules should be interpreted, especially recently, and sometimes agree with the judgements of the arbiters -- the mods and admins -- and sometimes don't.

As noted in the post above, look down-page for the locked posts and the reason given for each.

[dcsmart]

30. i understand...i didn't see the locks...LOL...

now i do...thanks.

[azmouse]

31. Thanks for this.

I was getting a little worried that we were spending too much time discussing what GD was doing.

Let's keep our Obama group as positive as we can, and do all we can for our President and our country.


Love you guys!! :loveya:

[goclark]

39. Positive vibes to everyone here

[grantcart]

32. Doin good Mom, keep us in line

I know that the 'rules' say this isn't your personal forum but us kids know better.


By the way when will the cookies be out of the oven?

[DeepModem Mom]

34. Cookies right here!

:grouphug:

[angee_is_mad]

33. k, who outed us?

lol.

All I can say is, "Jeez Louise," and the week has just started.

[Bobbie Jo]

35. Thanks, Mom...this is helpful.

Honestly, I wasn't familiar (no excuse, I know) of the rules as they relate to 'groups.' Probably because I've never participated in one until now. :)

Nice touch with the cookies, btw.... :pals:

[Hekate]

36. Thanks for the reminder, DMM

:hi:

[OneGrassRoot]

37. Thanks for the reminder...

I for one tend to feel the groups are an "ahhhhhh, we can be free in here...." kind of place, and forget there are still rules to abide by (for good reason). Thanks for this, and for the work you mods do so well.

:hi:

:hug:

[live love laugh]

38. I was unaware of these rules--I feel some of them should not exist

But that's just my opinion.

I know that this is not my board so I'll go along for the greater benefit.

[still_one]

40. I come to this group to get away from the bashing in recent weeks. There is a big difference

in regard to constructive criticism, and destructive criticism

and since I believe the Barack Obama forum purpose is to be supportive of him, I would hope that is what I would find here

[rebel with a cause]

41. So far....So good.

Most of us here are Obama supporters and although we don't always agree with him, in other words he is not our messiah, he is our president and someone we trust to make this country a better place to live than it has been for the last decade. And as his supporters I think we want to do all we can to help him get the job done. :hi:

[still_one]

42. Thank you. You articulated far better than I did /nt

[rebel with a cause]

43. Thank you...

Will be looking for you on the forum and in the threads. ;)